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Saturday, December 04, 2010

The History of the Domini: Part IV

Being a further account of the history of the Domini, as recorded by Randall Aurelius.

Part IV: The First Legion

The details of the magic involved in the calling of the
First Legion are long forgotten. We do
know that it was the first of only two times that the disparate magics of the
Shades and the Amaranthine were combined.
The Circuit involved hundreds of magic-users, and many of them died in
the effort. But when it was done, an
army had been summoned to our aid.

From where they were summoned is still a mystery. The First Legion neither spoke our language, nor
understood what we wanted from them.
They were angry at being ripped from their own land, but terrified of
the magic we wielded. With great
difficulty, we found a way to communicate.
From what we were able to learn, they came from a land similar to ours
in many ways, but there they had no contact with naka or goblins or
Malwer. Instead humans warred upon each
other for control of the land and the sea.
It is difficult to understand now how strange that was to us then,
humans fighting wars against each other.
We were far from a peaceful people even then, but we had no
understanding of conflict on such a scale.
The First Legion did, and we needed that understanding. After a great deal of bargaining, with
threats on both sides, we were able to reach an agreement.

The numbers which the First Legion added to humanity’s
beleaguered forces were small, but the expertise was considerable. They were among the best trained and most
disciplined soldiers in their land, and they shared their training and
experience with us, first strengthening our defenses against the naka and goblins, and then leading the assault to drive back the invaders. Unprepared as they were to face competent
warriors, the nakan advance faltered and then collapsed, and their conquests
were quickly retaken. Emboldened by our
successes, we pursued the naka and goblins as they retreated, and may have
succeeded in eliminating both races entirely, had not the Malwer themselves taken
the field.